The frontman of bands Emanuel and the Fear and Pale Ramon shares a few of his favorite spots in Brooklyn
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Beer Street
I got really into beer back when touring in Europe with Emanuel and the Fear because every country — particularly Germany, Belgium… the UK — has a lot of interesting beers, and we got really into trying all these beers that you just couldn’t get here. They have these small-batch microbreweries, but they’ve been there like a thousand years… like old monks used to brew beer or something. Now it’s this whole craze.
People were telling me about [Beer Street] before I moved [to this side of Williamsburg]. It’s really nice people, it’s super small and chill, and Cory [Bonfiglio, the buyer] is great — I think he has really good taste. There’s a lot of stuff here that you can’t get anywhere else.
413 Graham Ave, (347) 294-0495, beerstreetny.com
Iona
That was always my bar — it’s one of the last old-school Williamsburg bars.
180 Grand St, (718) 384-5008, ionabrooklyn.com
The Saint Austere
We’ve toured in Northern Italy and had amazing food, and it reminds me of that — it’s very, very, very good. I’ve gotten to know the people there too, and they’re really nice people. They make good choices, they combine really smart things and everything is really, really delicious.
[When asked what the best thing is to order] : I don’t know, man — everything is so good there.
613 Grand St, (718) 388-0012, thesaintaustere.com
St. Mazie Bar & Supper Club
You can see a lot of really good music there, and they make great cocktails. They do Flamenco Fridays, and there’s a lot of like, old-fashioned, turn-of-the-century jazz. It’s really good. It’s a really nice bar — very pretty inside, too. [And] it’s across the street from a damn good pizza place, Emmy Squared.
345 Grand St, (718) 384-4808, stmazie.com
Suzume
Their ramen is so good, and they make really good sushi, too. I recommend their standard yaoyao ramen — I remember that because I went there today.
545 Lorimer St, (718) 486-0200, suzumebk.com
Union Pool
I love Union Pool for shows. That’s one of my favorite venues. I was just there Tuesday [October 24, 2018] and saw a great show. Star Rover… and another band that was super awesome — Tigue, they’re called. And Henry Jamison was amazing, and Anna RG — she was so good.
I hadn’t been to a show where every single band was incredible in a long time, and they were all really good. I saw like six people I know there who are all badass musicians, and I was like, something good is happening… this is the right place to be. I love that place.
484 Union Ave, (718) 609-0484, union-pool.com
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Be sure to check out Emanuel’s projects, Pale Ramon and Emanuel and the Fear . Listen to Pale Ramon’s debut eponymous album here.
Feature image: Ben Curry
]This interview has been edited and condensed.]